I feel special! :D Brand new forum, brand new topic!

I need bland food ideas. I mean the blandest of blandness (not words, I know, but it works :wink: ). Are the "yellows" really all that bland? I really just want to cut off Noah's solids, but I know my doctors would throw a fit. So, what can I give him that is harmless? (7 months, no teeth).

We never go wrong with peas. She loves them and they stay down the best!

The teeth thing really isnt an issue, I know your worried about choking but babies dont use the first 8 teeth they get to chew anyway, that doesnt happen until the molars come in. You would be surprised at what can be "gummed". If he liked the gerber puffs, try some toast cut into small pieces or bits of pancake, etc...he wont choke on it just start with very small pieces. Try some finger foods, he may surprise you...we didnt have ANY luck at all with purees but things like toast, etc that can be gummed until they are mushy and gross were a hit. If you want to stick with bland, baby cereal is the blandest...yellow and orange veggies are sweet, so he might like those....also you might want to try some zwieback toast or biter biscuits , they are bland and also good practice for finger foods.

What Amy said. :lol: I would also look for those rusk biscuits as they melt in your mouth. We use Baby Mum Mums still as they were a favourite to fall back on and Iain always got even some when he was chewing and spitting them out. Farley biscuits are another one, but be forewarned: Farley biscuit + baby spit = goop like cement. Clean it up while it is still wet.

Try smearing some pea butter (not peanut butter, this is a high protein alternative) or some butter onto his mouthing foods for extra calories.

DItto to all above. Some kids prefer to "feed" themselves so finger foods are good. Matthew eats a variety of foods (including toast and plain biscuits) and he has no teeth!! It's amazing how much he can "moosh" them up!

I agree with what everyone said here. Great advice. I also agree that maybe Noah would enjoy table foods more than purees. Give it a shot. Just cut everything really small. Like Amy said, those first few teeth aren't really used, except for biting, not chewing, since it's the back teeth that perform those actions. Babies just use their tongues, gums and roof of their mouths to mash up foods, get it all gooey and swallow. Good luck with it. Thanksgiving dinner might be a perfect time to try it out.

Forgot to mention that Gerber dippers are FANTASTIC for learning to self feed. Check them out as they are well worth it.

Cady has absolutely no idea what to do with those dippers. She just digs her entire fist into the food with the dipper and then flings the dipper across the room...But, others have had great success with it. We're still working on it, though.

Cady has absolutely no idea what to do with those dippers. She just digs her entire fist into the food with the dipper and then flings the dipper across the room...But, others have had great success with it. We're still working on it, though.

That is how Iain started and then he started the occassional lick off of it. It was better than his fist in the puree and winging it against my walls.... Mind you, he still does do that on occassion. :? For us, it was a great thing as he played with it in the begining and did not freak right away when food was placed in front of him. It bought us time in "THE CHAIR". :D

Thanks everyone! Alright. I'm going to be brave, and tomorrow I'll try some toast or something along those lines.

BUT, WHAT KIND OF BREAD DO I USE?

Noah plays with his dippers, but sees no purpose. For now, they're simply toys. :D I saw those Gerber biscuits... I was just afraid it would break off and choke him. I'm so paranoid. I assume the Heimlick (sp?) position while Noah eats, just in case. (joking, of course, but thought about it :oops: )

BUT, WHAT KIND OF BREAD DO I USE?


Good luck, Maggie!!! Have fun with it! I promise that you won't have to do the Heimilich. :D I would just use a thin sliced bread, and to start, don't toast it. (The toasted crumbs can be hard to begin with). We just lightly buttered it, and used a tiny bit of grape preserves (you can get the 100% fruit stuff with no added sugar if you want). Then just cut it tiny, like the size of his finger nail.

Let us know how it goes!!! Crossing my fingers that he is a toast man. :D

Sliced bread is what we always started with. I would agree not to start with toast and to smear something like butter or jam, etc. on it (extra calories!) We always made our bites little cubes, but Sheila's suggestion is great for size and then work up as he gets better with it. Do not expect miracles the first day, or even the first week. New foods can take time, especially when he is getting a new texture, too and that is normal. Just having him play with it is great to start with and maybe Mommy could have a slice with him to let him see hwo itis done. :wink:

Looking forward to hearing how he does. :D

Alright, ladies... I wasn't planning on making bread in the breadmaker for Noah, or going out and buying a big old unsliced loaf. I meant, what kind as in white, wheat, whole grains or not...etc...

You've under-estimated me once again... :lol:

That "guest" was me. How did that happen? Wierd... :?

And try different kinds of bread. Catherine hates plain white bread (after many attempts) but she loved corn bread right away. I gave her some crumbs off a muffin yesterday and she gobbled them.

We are currently using white bread. I take one slice, put vegemite on it , fold it in half and then cut that in half. SO essentially the boys ahve 1/4 of a sandwich!! And.. be prepared for Noah just to squish it through his fingers or to just lick the spread you put on it. That's what we did originally but now we pretty good at eating the whole thing. It's a messy business but try and have fun with it... feeding time is not always just about eating (although we're anxious for them to eat). It's important they learn feeding skills as well as just consuming the stuff.
Good luck!! :D :D

Alright, ladies... I wasn't planning on making bread in the breadmaker for Noah, or going out and buying a big old unsliced loaf. I meant, what kind as in white, wheat, whole grains or not...etc...

You've under-estimated me once again... :lol:

Hee hee. I would see if he will eat the brown or whole grains stuff as it is great for them, healthier, and helps with poop issues as you are adding much needed fibre. We switched to whole wheat and grains here and it is terrific. Took a bit to get used to for me as I am stictly a white bread appreciator, but I adjusted. Variety is best. As I type this, our kiddos are chewing away on some whole grain bread with butter and cooked ham. Iain is officially introduced now to that lovely cheese spread and seems to like it as I see some of it is being licked off while he puts the bread in and out of his mouth a hundred times.... 8)

We did the wholegrain breads here initially Leigh (yep, I was thinking healthier tec..) but we ended up with EXPLOSIVE diarrhea.. and that was the only thing that was new. SO I left it, the poop calm down, and then I added it again.. and guess what??? Vomitting out the rear end again. ICK, ICK... we don't do wholegrains anymore...... well, not for a while anyway..!

I use the Sara Lee White Whole Grain bread. Its great, and its not gritty at all. I gave Noah a few bites with his yogurt at lunch, and it seemed to enjoy it, but I didn't give more than about 5 little pieces since its a first for bread.

One more question:

Noah has a new food! He ate this Oatmeal/Banana/Peach combo just like he does his yogurt. Is that bland? Its creamy and smooth like yogurt, so I'm guessing thats why he likes it. I don't want to make him sick...I'm so scared...but since I've finally found something he likes other than yogurt, I'd love to be able to substitue it to change things up.

Oh yes, and are mashed potatoes bland??? I'm stupid when it comes to figuring these things out. They seem nice and plain, but I have no clue.

Mashed potatoes are very bland. Cady loves mashed potatoes because they're also creamy and smooth when made that way. She likes hers with parmesan cheese mixed in.

Maggie,

Why are you focusing on "bland?" I wouldn't exactly describe Yo Baby as bland. It's actually got just a bit of tartness to it, as most yogurt does. I actually think that's why Catherine likes it. She never would eat plain cereal.

Lesley--

I'm focussing on bland foods because several different times that I have gotten a decent amount of fruit or veggie into Noah (7-8 bites), he's been sicker than crap all day long. I think its a mixture of gas and a reflux upset. I'd like to try foods than are more bland right now, to avoid him being sick. I could be off, but I'm thinking this is our best route.

That makes sense. How about cream of wheat or grits? You can't get any blander than that! You could mix in a little fruit, or even make it with juice instead of water, to give it a little flavor.

cream of wheat is a big hit at our house. malt-o-meal comes in plain & chocolate also. (they are next on the list to try.) it's all dairy free, but malt-o-meal has minuet amts of soy.

amelia doesn't always do well with baby food, but seems to much better on "people" food.

Both my girls love Cream of Wheat. I used to make Kaylin's with apple juice instead of water when she was a baby. I just mix fruit into Cady's after it's prepared. I agree...that sounds like a good food to try.

amelia doesn't always do well with baby food, but seems to much better on "people" food.

Funny how many GERDlings are like that! I had to laugh at "people food", though. Cute. :lol:

amelia doesn't always do well with baby food, but seems to much better on "people" food.

Funny how many GERDlings are like that! I had to laugh at "people food", though. Cute. :lol:

i'm about to give up on baby foods. she hates 'em & does poorly with them.

Pooka I say go with whatever works! We didnt have any success with baby food either, and once I got over my fear of her choking and started offering her table food it made a HUGE difference in the amt she took in. Do what works for her!

Pooka I say go with whatever works! We didnt have any success with baby food either, and once I got over my fear of her choking and started offering her table food it made a HUGE difference in the amt she took in. Do what works for her!

i know it sounds silly, but it's sometimes hard to remember that i can't go by the regular baby feeding rules for her. she's got to find her own path & i've got to follow it. right now toast it the big hit.

i'm about to give up on baby foods. she hates 'em & does poorly with them.

We're about one day away from no baby food. She'll eat cereal though, thank goodness. She'll even feed herself some from her dipper spoon.

She LOVES people food...

It's thrown me for a loop, though. I didn't realize how much "junk" I eat until I had to start making food for Emma.... :roll: :lol:

Amanda

What are you making for Emma? I'm just curious. I draw a blank when it comes to feeding Noah. I just can't ever think of anything that would be nice and easy on his stomach.

Amanda

What are you making for Emma? I'm just curious. I draw a blank when it comes to feeding Noah. I just can't ever think of anything that would be nice and easy on his stomach.

Right now she will eat her Beechnut oatmeal cereal, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, mashed boiled pears and apple, some banana pieces, cooked frozen peas...she loves these b/c she can pick them up, crackers, waffles, pancakes, scrambled egg yolk, hard-boiled egg yolks, toast w/butter and grape preserves, butter bread. Plus she gets fingerfoods like Gerber puffs, Rice Krispies, Cheerios...etc.

She will eat any veggie...like carrots if I boil them myself and mash it up. Odd. She hates babyfood carrots. Maybe too runny?

I usually buy frozen vegies...boil them, and then mash it up + whatever meat we're having that night minus the spices.

I also give her bits of whatever we're having....if it's not cheesy or too spicey. She loves it.

I just hope it's enough to = the same calories with babyfood.

I'm taking her in for a weight check in Dec. to make sure.

Wow! I'm impressed!

Catherine's diet consists of all Yo Baby flavors, plain stage 2 fruits and veggies and Gerber puffs. With the rare cracker or pancake crumb thrown in for variety. She did eat one cube of diced peaches, cut into pieces so small they could hardly be seen (LOL), but when I sent them to the babysitter the next day, she gagged on the first bite and puked all over herself. She's good for one miniscule piece at a time, not a spoonful.

Oh, wait ... she does like rice. Grains of it, not cereal.